EPIK 365 Day 6: Jincheon High School

This is Jincheon High School, where I teach.

EPIK 365 Day 5: All About the Money

Just in case anyone was wondering what Korean won looks like.

EPIK 365 Day 4: Phonebooths

I took a long walk aroung Jincheon...there are these little blue phonebooths everywhere.  I dunno, they just make me happy...almost as happy as the little red British ones. :)

First Day of School

My first of school...at a new school...in a foreign country.

 

I got to school fairly early.  I was worried about getting lost on the way (even though it is a very straight 15-20 minute walk from my apartment to the school and wanted to take my time to try to observe things around me.  And keep an eye out for a “PC bang” (or internet cafe).  I won’t have internet until my Alien Residency Card comes (in about 2 weeks) so will have to rely on PC bangs and discrete internet usage at school.

 

Anyway, my first day of school.

 

One of the teachers I met yesterday too me up to the English Department and the head English teacher showed me to my office.  I have a decent sized office to myself.  I left some of the materials that I brought for students to look at there so keep from having to haul them back and forth everyday.  The door locks and I have a key and there is locking file cabinet there that I left those things in.  Next door teacher brought me toothbrush and toothpaste, a roll of toilet paper, and two mugs.  Apparently, I should have had these things, but more on that later.

 

My co-teacher took me to meet the principal and we had tea with him.  Then to a teachers’ meeting where I had to stand in front of the faculty and have the Vice Principle introduce me and then say a few words to the staff.  Of course I was nervous and embarrassed, but managed to ramble my way through it.

 

I didn’t have any classes to teach, which I am so grateful!  I felt like I was being eased in to things.  So my co-teacher and I sat down and discussed what I would be expected to teach...I am supposed to focus on writing skills a few other things, like saying sentences and having students recognize intonation, etc.  So I put in half a day of meeting people and working on a lesson introducing myself.

 

Another English teacher came to see me just before lunch.  He was excited to hear that I was from Memphis as he is a big Elvis fan.  We talked about Elvis and Memphis (we promised to work on changing the students’ view that Elvis is old and out-dated), our families, and then he and Next Door Teacher showed me to the cafeteria.  After lunch (more kimchi, but this pork stew stuff that was really good and a seaweed soup that was ok) Next Door Teacher and I went back to the classroom/office where she showed me where I should brush my teeth.  Makes sense now.  A lot of Korean food is quite spicy and the minty, cool toothpaste helped to calm my poor, overworked taste buds.

 

After lunch, my co-teacher came by to see me.  She had a schedule of classes that I would be expected to teach (17 in total), but since I was contracted to 22 hours, I would hold office hours for students starting in a few weeks and then office hours for faculty to come work on English skills.  She gave me a schedule of classes I needed to teach next week, not too many since Monday has a special event planned and Thursday is a holiday.  She told me to take to rest of the day off to have a rest and have some time to myself. 

 

My co-teacer came by later in the afternoon to help me change the passcode on my door and see if I needed anything for the weekend.  I assured her I would be alright and would spend time exploring and knew where the grocery store was if I needed anything.   

 

And so, the adventure begins in earnest…

EPIK 365 Day 3: Jincheon in the Morning

My view of Jincheon out my apartment window.

Settling In....

I am one of six September Intakes bound for Chungbuk Province.  After rallying at the airport we loaded up on a bus and headed down the road to Cheongju to meet with our main co-teachers for the first time.  On the road our coordinator gave us a brief orientation on the province and tried to answer our million questions.  When we got to the Provincial Office of Education we met up with our main co-teacher and scattered to immigration and our schools.

 

It was a little strange to feel so close to a group of people for such and short time and then say goodbye so quickly.  One of the benefits of being a stranger in a strange land, I suppose.  I will see some of them in a few weeks when I go to our district’s professional development class (it meets once a month) and then the whole group again during orientation at the end of October.  Anyway…

 

What can I say about Jincheon?  It is small, sorta like my hometown in Alabama. Unlike my hometown it is surrounded by the beautiful mountains.  The weather has just started ti change here so the leaves will turn soon.  My co-teacher says that the mountains are really beautiful then.

 

We went to my school and met with a few of the teachers and the Vice Principal.  Then to my apartment to settle in.

 

My apartment is so nice!  It seems fairly new.  The building itself is shiny and my apartment is very clean.  I was told that I am the first foreign english teacher at the high school, so I am inclined to believe that this place had been chosen just for me.  (It will post pictures of my place later...like, once my things are put away, later.)

 

My co-teacher came and took me to dinner with another teacher.  This teacher has her classroom next door to my office, so for the blog I will call her “Next Door Teacher.”  It was my first truly Korean meal...eaten sitting on the floor with chopsticks.  Now, my American standards I consider myself to be “chopstick proficient” with those wooden chopsticks they give you with Chinese food.  However, with those smooth silver chopsticks they have here I realize that I am a novice at best.  And, there is kimchi everywhere.  There were 3 types with dinner (all blazing hot and made my tongue numb) and a little pancake-like thing made with kimchi, but was not hot and actually quite good.  There was also a pickled cucumber thing that was just a touch sour and still very crunchy.  I’m not much for pickles, but it was pretty good.

 

After dinner my co-teacher took me to a grocery store to buy a few things to get started.  Milk, orange juice, water, and a few muffins and a roll from the Paris Baguette next door.  Just enough to get started and I will go back later to explore.  Finally, I made it back to the apartment and crashed.

EPIK 365 Day 2: Finally in Jincheon

Jincheon...this is home base for the next year.

EPIK 365 Day 1: Getting Feet on the Ground

So, this starts my 365 Photo Journal.  I will publish a photo from this trip everyday.  Hopefully it will be something cool, unique, with a fun story behind it, but we'll see.

Today's is one of my first views of Korea out the airplane window.

Feet on the Ground in Korea!

I have been on the road for 3 days...and I don't mind admitting, I am EXHAUSTED!

Anyway, I have made it safe and sound to Korea and gotten checked into the hotel.  It's a pretty swanky hotel for a one night stay, but the main thing is, it's comfortable...and quiet...and still.  Just getting to be still so so unbelievably wonderful!  :)

My flight from San Francisco was, well, what it was.  There was an electrical "issue" with something that shut down all inflight entertainment...I'm still not sure what happened...and then when it was time to deplane, everyone was told to stay put because of a "medical emergency."  Sheesh!  But I finally got out of my seat and off the plane.

Korean Customs.  Customs is always a pain...a necessary pain, but come on, let's call a spade a spade. However, Korea has is down to as painless as possible.  Step up, hand the officer your papers (which they scan) while you have your fingerprints and picture taken.  Never mind that after being on the road for 3 days I looked somewhat homeless and that picture will be on file somewhere and probably used for an ID photo somewhere.

I broke down and took a taxi from the airport to the hotel.  I managed to avoid the "taxi pimp", but when I got to the street to look for the cab stand a middle-aged Korean man jumped out of his van/taxi and started loading my luggage into the back.  It ended up being "roughly" a $20 dollar cab ride.  So, he dropped me at the wrong hotel (pay attention, he has now loaded my 100-ish pounds of luggage twice) but stayed to make sure I was in the right place.  When he found out I was not at the right hotel he reloaded my luggage (this is load on/off number 3), got directions to the correct hotel, drove me there, and reunloaded my luggage.  He confirmed with the hotel staff that I was in the right place before finally heading off.  Twenty dollars well spent to me.  Plus he got really upset when I did things like open the door for myself and try to handle ANY of the luggage.  I mean, I come from the land of Southern Hospitality, but Korean Hospitality is something else.

Well, my dears, that is my adventure so far.  Plus I have a surprise for you.  I am starting a 356 photo journal for you.  For details, see my next post.  :)

The Mission...should I Choose to Accept it...

...or, rather, it is too late for me to change my mind.

I received a letter from the International Education Coordinator for Chungbuk Province today.  Apparently, I am headed to Jincheon gun (county) and will be teaching high school level students.  :)

Wikipedia doesn't say much about it...neither does Google...so, a true adventure awaits me.

It's pretty small...approximately 60,000 people.  They host a "cultural festival" each year...so right up my anthropological ally.

I apologize for the short and choppy blog...I have been on the road for 15 hours now and after a few hours sleep in for at least 15 more.  Night, all!

Small, but Mighty...

It has been an EXHAUSTING 72 hours.

Movers on Wednesday to load up all the big things and things that were already packed.  (By the way, I HIGHLY recommend Two Men and a Truck.  I have used their services twice now and both times have been fantastic.)

Packing leftover things and loading them on to the truck and driving 4-ish hours back to Alabama (with 4 cats in tow) on Thursday.

Unloading truck into storage unit on Friday.

Now, my future holds a return to Memphis for final few things that did not fit in any vehicle, cleaning the apartment, and a little football on Saturday.  A family day and final suitcase packing on Sunday.  And Monday, I head to the airport and finally get on the road to Korea!

Have I mentioned that I am 5'2"?  I am small, but mighty.  :)

So, Korea, huh?

People have said that to me a lot lately...

I am headed (technically, back) to Korea to teach English as a Second Language through EPIK (English Program in Korea).  I'm not planning on writing a blog entry about the application process or any of the million things you need to do to get ready for a year in Korea, there are tons out there for your edification.  However, if you have a question or concern, leave it in a comment and I will be more than happy to answer it.

I've been placed in Chungcheongbuk (or Chungbuk) Province...right in the dead center of South Korea.

I am a September intake, which is a little more rare.  Most intakes are done in August and February, and a few more are taken in September, October, March, and April of each year.  I won't have the benefit of an orientation immediately upon arrival, but on the other hand, I won't have to haul a year's worth of luggage around an extra week.  So it's right into the deep end for me.  :)

Anyway, even though I am most recently from Memphis (TN), I'll be leaving out of Birmingham (AL) on the 23rd and will end up in Seoul (well, technically Incheon) via Houston and San Francisco.

Have I mentioned how much I love traveling over the International Dateline?  It may be the only way I get to time-travel.  This year I won't bypass an entire day, but I will skip a good portion of the 24-25th.  But by virtue of cultural differences, I will gain two years to my age.  In Korea, people are born 1 year old (the time spent in the womb is considered the first year of life) and then EVERYONE gains a year on the lunar new year.  I was born in October, so that means I was already a year old when I was born and then "turned" 2 in January/February (whenever the new year was that year).  This type of time-travel is not quite as much fun for me.  Anyway....

That's all I have for you in this blog.  See you soon!

Salutations!

I suppose now is as good a time as any to start this thing.

I am roughly 2 weeks out from a triumphant return to the "Motherland"...that is, I am leaving my home here and heading to South Korea to teach English for a year.  Oh, that "Motherland" bit?  I'm ethnically Korean, like, born there Korean.  Never mind that I haven't been back since shortly after being born....needless to say, I am feeling quite a bit of pressure to go and "be" Korean.

Anyway, flight and hotels are booked.  That's about it.  I still have to cram my life into two suitcases and a carry on...and get my apartment packed up and into storage for the year.  And I'm not going to lie, I'm going to miss my life here.  I love my city (more at some times than others) and have fabulous friends.  And my cats are like my furry little children and it breaks my heart to leave them with my parents.

However, I am excited about the turn my life is about to take and I hope, you my dear, are excited too and will continue to read this blog as my adventure unravels.